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Howdy folks

It’s been a while since I posted here. I just wanted to put this rough version of a song I am a bit stuck on. I was driving somewhere a few months ago and noticed all of these weeds growing up in the middle of the interstate. I liked the image and the idea that life endures no matter what we dumb humans do to destroy it. Anyway, so I wrote this.

Re: the audio, I am strumming and drumming here. This was just one mic and the vocal (snare too) is too loud. I’m not worried re: production yet because the song is in flux. Also, there’s a false start at the beginning. Sorry- I just have not had an opportunity to redo it yet. Also, the lyric below is the current one. I guess I changed it since I made this audio.

https://on.soundcloud.com/N2YtbMwLcKsmRwrH7




She’s a wild flower
Growing in a rift
She doesn’t know why
Or how she exists

She doesn’t need much soil
Doesn’t need much rain
She just lives
No need to explain

She’s just a seed
The seed of a weed
And a weed will grow
Where the wind says so

She’s a wildflower
Growing in the street
Immersed in the glass
Garage and concrete

Just one of those creatures
You never see
Living and dying
Out here in the breeze

She’s just a seed
The seed of a weed
And a seed will grow
Where the wind says so

She’s a wildflower
Growing in a rift
She doesn’t know how
Or why she exists

She will keep living
She will endure
Because you cannot kill
What you cannot cure

Repeat chorus

Bad ass groove, like it! Wb, you had one song long time ago that blew me away can't think of it now,l.

This is good too!

"She will keep living
She will endure
Because you cannot kill
What you cannot cure"""

Fearless nature
Untamed and pure
She's alive
She will endure

I just don't see a reason to bring "Roundup" into this lol...

You could also switch your 2-3 chords, but just a matter of style...

That's a cool groove . I could hear it done in a studio

Hi Wendy,

You're explanation of the lyric is what's happening on the surface, but I think there's more to it than that. I like it a lot, btw.

The first thing I thought was "this looks backwards engineered from Because you cannot kill/What you cannot cure" and could be pulled out-of-context as a great standalone quotable.

Second thing was that this overall reminds me of that dancing plastic bag scene in "American Beauty" and that the character named Ricky Fitts was showing his friend this video and how beautiful this dancing bag was. Second time in two days I've thought of this scene, after not having thought about it for a decade or more. Pretty weird!

But my point being, I know how Ricky felt about that plastic bag. In this song, I only know how the singer feels about the wild flower through understanding the lyric's psychological complexity: that of how the singer is relating to her material. She maintains distance and an objective way of talking about it--granted it's great detail, detail that becomes important to know in the chorus.

And with "She will keep living/She will endure//Because you cannot kill/What you cannot cure" I get "a sense" the singer admires the wild flower for enduring in the most innocent of ways--that of enduring with no self-awareness (alluded to in V1 and V2), and the singer seems like she's trying to emulate that innocence by just talking about what she sees, not about how it makes her feel!

And you do this very subtly, along with feminizing the weed as "she"--and as such, it works to draw me into the idea that "the singer sees herself in the weed," and that this singer is not Ricky Fitts, and finds the wild flower remarkable for enduring while not finding it especially beautiful or anything else. But that's why I like this lyric...it's brave to be this stark.

As Leonard Cohen said, "there are heroes in the seaweed."

With the last two lines of "She will keep living/She will endure/Because you cannot kill/What you cannot cure" the analogy gets really dark. I'm reminded of how historically "shock treatment" was administered to perfectly healthy women, and other dark things.

The kill/cure lines are very powerful, but it does complicate the singer, somewhat, as it envokes images of the singer equating life itself as something that only keeps going cuz there's "no cure" for it. No cure for it, without self-awareness, that is. And the singer can't help but be self-aware despite her wanting to be like that weed.

So, I get all this out of this song. There's enough meat on it for me to have gotten all that out of so little, no-doubt much of my "read" are projections from my own personal life history, and so I am admiring it for it's economy, its almost journalistic tone which comes from your folk roots, and it's brave stark look at a singer who can identify, at least in these moments of singing, with this wild flower.

One word I think could be varied in the chorus' recurrence is "wind" --I mean, is it mainly responsible for where weeds grow, or could you change it up in the second chorus, since there are other factors like chance, rain, etc...just a thought...

Those were my thoughts reading through while listening just a few times; hope there's something in there that's helpful.


Mike

Hey man,

Thanks for coming by to listen. The groove is the thing, ain't it? If you remember that song, LMK.

Hey, thank you sir. I have been messing around with some little musical variation in there. I do think it needs some zing musically somewhere. Normally, I would just get a friend to play a solo but I should dive into something and get out of my comfort zone.

I don't know why I didn't think of Round Up before now.. I honestly didn't even consider this. I was trying to write a "money line" and it's one of the parts of the lyric that I'm still struggling with.

Wendy, good to see you back around here. You are you.........and that is what makes your music always interesting. These lyrics and music vibe reminded me of something Edie Brickell would have recorded. Lots of potential here, but keep the arrangement simple because your voice always pulls in the listener. Loved it!

steady-eddie

"Money line...?"
You mean like, poor unfortunate dandelions? Dirty knees and ragweeds? In debt up to her nose and can't afford a hoe?

“The money line” my own personal way of referring to the line of the song that brings impact to the song. It has nothing to do with the content of this particular song. I always ask myself what the point is. Why am I writing this? I seek to resolve this with a line that is impactful. The kill/cure line is intended to be that line although I wonder if it works. That is all I meant re: the above.

Thanks for your thoughts on this Mike. You are on the money here with your thoughts. Initially, my gut is to always make things a bit dark and ambiguous.

So my initial ideas for this were akin to the Dickens Christmas tale where the final ghost tells Scrooge about ignorance and poverty and how if left alone with no remedy, the feral children of the world will become terrible people. But after kicking this thing around for a bit and asking myself what it means, I decided to simplify and just take a step back. But I think the neutrality of it might not serve it either.

In writing this, I did research about why plants/weeds pick ruins/places that seem inhospitable to life. I couldn’t find any clear explanation but did read a great article about the renovation of the coliseum in Rome and the ancient plant variations that had been growing in its ruins.

So I am on the fence about all of it. I thank you for your thoughts on it because even in this exercise of responding to you, I am rethinking this again.

Hey, thanks so much! Maybe it gets that far. I appreciate that you gave it a spin.

The pompous poppies
And regal roses
Claim the sun's rays
And turn up their noses

She freely endures
It's nature's will
'Cause they cannot cure
What they can't kill...

Its a conversational lyric : I would keep it in (First Person ) . " I'm’s a wild flower: Ect . " Its probably your life "
"Usually first person... is more connect to listeners ".

Usually I would agree, Elvis;

But, "I'm just a weed...?"

That's too self deprecating. I think this works more as an observation.

Maybe or vulnerable.. just a thought.
"I''m not sure putting oneself in unfavorable light ...still stands today in 2023 , especially being the artist: As a pitch it might"

Hi Wendy.
Always interesting lyrics from you.
I admire your bravery on the drums. I used to play bass in a band and tried what you did until one night I fell over.

Good one.
Vic

Hey ya'll thanks so much for your feedback on this one. I have been working w/this on electric guitar and I've changed the rhythm slightly and varied it up a bit musically. When I have another demo, I might post it up. I decided not to change much about the words. But that may happen too.

Anyway, thanks to everyone that posted. I'm going to let this thread die here now.

"I encourage you to work with a local producer and studio ": They could nail down tracks down in 3 hours "
"I'm sure Atlanta Georgia... they are numerous studios ": Most these guys are guitar players and song writers to dial it in"


https://www.musicgateway.com/blog/recording-studios/recording-studios-atlanta

Interesting what 'effect' it has when it changes from 'She' to 'I'.

I'm a wild flower
Growing in a rift
I don’t know why
Or how I exist

I don’t need much soil
Don’t need much rain
I just live
No need to explain

I am just a seed
The seed of a weed
And a weed will grow (weed? or seed?)
Where the wind says so

I'm a wildflower
Growing in the street
Immersed in the glass
Garage and concrete (Garage? or garbage? or grunge.

Just one of those creatures
You never see
Living and dying
Out here in the breeze

I am just a seed
The seed of a weed
And a seed will grow
Where the wind says so

I'm a wildflower
Growing in a rift
I don’t know how
Or why I exist

I will keep living
I will endure
Because you cannot kill
What you cannot cure

Repeat chorus

"Definitely ...it comes across as more vulnerable as the artist: This person feels like I do :Meaning the listener "
"I would not worry about (unfavorable light)... being the artist and relating with people"
Some of these (I walk on water songs) ; kinda make me feel really : You're that together ? "

"Billie Eilish is a prime example of that":( vulnerable)"